Friday, September 17, 2010

When I posted the no-knead ciabatta bread video last January, I had no idea it would become one of the most watched, most commented-on, and most loved recipes on the blog. So it came as a little bit of a shock when the no-knead pizza dough, which used the same basic technique, did not garner the same outpouring of love.

Many thought it was just too wet, sticky, and hard to work with. Personally, I didn’t have an issue with it, but that's because I have lots of experience, and I know how to use extra flour and a light touch to form the pizzas without any major problems. Unfortunately, for most viewers that was not the case.

So I went back to the drawing board. This new and improved version is less sticky and much easier to work with, yet still produces a very nice pizza crust – flavorful, tender, with just the right amount of chewiness.

Of course the most important feature has not changed – you still don't knead it. There are plenty of websites out there that will explain, in excruciating detail, why exactly this works, but long story short, the tiny amount of yeast grows and ferments very slowly, and it's this long rising time that allows for the gluten strands to form.

Anyway, whether you tried the original no-knead pizza dough recipe and struggled with it, or you are attempting this for the first time, I'm confident you will be very happy with the results. Enjoy!

No-Knead Pizza Dough Ingredients:2 oz whole wheat flour16 oz all-purpose flour*about 4 cups total1/4 tsp dry active yeast1 1/4 tsp salt1/4 tsp sugar2 tbsps olive oil1 1/2 cups warm water, if possible, use bottled water as chlorinated water can retard the yeast growthcornmeal as neededNote: Rising times will vary based on the temperature. It should probably go at least 14 hours to develop enough gluten, but could take as long as 24 hours to double in size.

P.S.-Still hope my english is pretty goed and you understand me!!I learned english at school 22 years ago and never exercised it!!till now,i found you!so,what do you have to say about it?shall i move to ...America?Joke!!

well, I am going to try this - BUT! I love love love the original version! Works every time and my friends rave about it (me too!) Thanks for leaving the other up. And I froze my dough, too. Works like a charm!

Unless, you are getting me fat because I try some of your recipes at home, you really need to post about some healthy stuff to balance out these days.

But I am glad I found this blog.I use cookbooks rarely these times because there are so many great videos on the net (just tip your favourite food into youtube)And the best is you get to see what you have to do while they are cooking it. When you cook after book recipes, often the result is not so satisfying.Blogger like you make the world a better place- I mean a more delicious place, because everybody is able now to cook even complicated food.I hope that a lot more people decide to cook for themselves and throw away their convenience foods.

Hi Chef.Great vid! But I don't understand what's the added value in not kneeding your dough? Anyone with a little knowledge of bread baking knows how the gluten network in the dough arise (by kneeding.) I don't believe this method provides a good enough gluten development, the dough has risen because the yeast generates its carbon dioxide.If i'm wrong please explain why, I'm very curious and eager to learn.Btw, I have a very good stand mixer that does all the kneeding for me, so I really don't care about that. I just want to know the technology behind no-kneed dough.Cheers from the Netherlands

Ok, so the first try was not so good because it didn't have enough water and it was a bit too 'heavy' (unlike the marshmallow consistency that you have, the whole-wheat in Holland looks different, Chef). Next I am planning to just use regular wheat flour. Can I just use half of the recipe tho?

This looks awesome. Quick question, though, is kneading really very difficult? It's just that, I don't usually prepare my meals 20 hours ahead, and I was wondering if that much of a wait was really worth not kneading.

When I put my oven on 550 degrees and place the pizza on the bottom rack for 3-4min, I get black burn spots on the bottom, particularly the crust which is sometimes not edible. The rest of the pizza is great though. Does that mean my sheet pan is suspect? Or is my oven just too hot? Or did I roll it out too thin? All of the above?

Hi, John I'm amazed of this recipe but I was wondering if I can use natural fresh yeast intead of what you used.I don't know if you care about our comments or not but i wanna let you know that you have the best blog ever!! thanks

Made this for the first time following the recipe to a T (starting with 2 C All Purpose and 1/4C Whole Wheat) I had to add more flour but it came out perfect! I like the way chef says to bake it on the btm first at 550. That really made the crust texture perfecto and nice to look at too. I am making it again this time with all bread flour (per Alton Brown's pizza flour recommendation)...we'll see how it goes! I like to put Provolone, Bruschetta, and Lentils on my pizza topped with Parmesean cheese, mmmmmm you gotta try it!

Should have asked this with my queation about the active vs, instant yeast. When is the best time to freeze the dough balls for future use - after you remove the dough from the first proof when cut into quarters or after the SRT and second 15 minute proof before rolling out? After freezing and defrosting, do you give it a second proof? Thanks for your answer to come

Hi, Chef,I'm wondering if, instead of using flour to aid in spreading out the dough, can one use oil as in from a spray can to cover the work surface and dough? I mostly use oil when forming my dough. Thanks. Great site!!!

I have a pizza stone but I am not smart enough to use it properly. Do I put the raw dough on the preheated stone and then build the pizza? Because every time I build the pizza I get stuck trying to figure out how to move the pizza onto the stone...

What temp should I use with the pizza stone? Bottom, top, or middle of the oven (gas oven)?

Hello, this is so easy to make, it's SO amazing! And since I'm from the Philippines whereas the weather is humid here, it took me only 3-4 hours to double the size of the dough. thank you very much CJ :-)

I hope you can have a video of calzone and stuffed chicken dinner roll.

Chef John, I made the No-Knead Pizza Dough yesterday according to the recipe you did a video for back on 12-8-2008. I just made the garlic/olive oil version you made today and it was fantastic!!! I have tried many other pizza dough recipes and they all failed. They were too bready!! I have been searching for years for an easy to make crispy/thin crust and this is it! I totally understood you when you said it would be sticky and that did not bother me at all. Was easy to work with after following your lead. Can't wait to try with other toppings. THANK YOU!! My hat is off to you dear sir!

If I want to make a triple batch of dough do I do three separate batches or one mega batch? Would a double batch of sauce work for that amount of dough? We're having a Winter Solistace party and thought little thin crusts would be a yummy starter. Thanks for your help!

Chef John, we love you! We told you last year about how your knead less dough changed our lives! May sound a bit dramatic but seriously, before we discovered your site, we were wasting money on store bough bread and were unable to make home made pizza. So again, thanks so much. We love your food blog and videos and so you can know just how much we love your videos and food blog, check out our latest video and blog entry. It just worked out that Food Wishes was given credit more than a couple of times. So we thought you would want to know about it!! http://walkingwayoverrated.blogspot.com/2011/12/easy-pizza-making-time.html

Hey Chef, I know that this is an old post, but I thought that you should know that the list of ingredients says to use 1 1/4 tsp salt, but, in the video, you say to use 1 1/2 tsp. Which is the correct amount?

Thank you Thank you Thank you !I tried making it today and i kept it rising for almost 8 hrs only in warmed oven and it tasted PERFECT; am so in luv with it .. and all your recipes .. your amazing chef. keep up the good recipes ;)

There may be no shame in using a rolling pin; however, here in Italy at least one type of pizza must be shaped entirely by hand. The DOC (Denominazione di origine controllata) for wine has an equilivant for food; DOP (Denominazione di Origine Protetta). These regulations lay out the rules for protecting the quality of Italian classics such as Borolo wine, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, Prosciutto di Parma ham, etc.

Pizza Napoletana has it's own DOP, which you can read about here:http://www.pizzanapoletana.org/images/file/disciplinare%202008%20UK.pdf and you will see that rolling pins are prohibited.

However, I nearly always use a rolling pin since I'm not a professional. I also cook my pizzas on a (well preheated)baking stone in my outdoor gas BBQ grill which can get much hotter than my home oven and it's easier than my outdoor wood fired pizza oven. Sometimes I put wood chips into a foil pouch (with one small hole) and toss that on the gas burner. I add the pizza just as the wood starts to smoke. It simulates the irreplaceable flavor of a genuine wood oven quite well.

Had to type out the instructions for myself, so I thought it might be helpful to others if I posted it here:

No-Knead Pizza Dough Ingredients:2 oz whole wheat flour16 oz all-purpose flour*about 4 cups total1/4 tsp dry active yeast1 1/4 tsp salt1/4 tsp sugar2 tbsps olive oil1 1/2 cups warm water, if possible, use bottled water as chlorinated water can retard the yeast growthcornmeal as neededNote: Rising times will vary based on the temperature. It should probably go at least 14 hours to develop enough gluten, but could take as long as 24 hours to double in size.Mix together flours, yeast, salt, sugar and olive oil, add hot, not scalding water, and mix vigorously about 4 mins. until dough pulls away from the side of the bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, place in UNLIT oven with the light on for 18-20 hours, until it’s just about doubled in size. It’s gonna be all bubbly, and smell yeasty. Flour your board, pour dough out onto the board, and flour the top of dough and your hands. Pat the dough out to a sort of rectangle shape to make it easier to cut it into four equal pieces. After you’ve done that, form it into a ball, add flour if it’s still too sticky, then do the *R-SAT, Rotate, Stretch and Tuck. Slowly rotate the dough ball around with your hands while you stretch the dough from the top down underneath, tucking it under with your fingers. *you may want to actually refer again to the video to do this part.* Keep rotating 5 or 6 times, feels awesome. If using immediately, cover with a towel for about 15 minutes to rest, or if saving for later, put in a Ziploc bag and refrigerate for up to 2 or 3 days. After it rests, put little flour on, and pat it down a little with your fingers, then roll it out which is easier than trying to spin it or stretch it out by hand. Roll out to about a 9 inch pizza. Take a sheet pan, and sprinkle with a little bit of cornmeal and lay your dough down and top it. Don’t overdo the toppings; good pizza is an exercise in restraint. Heat oven to 550 F or as hot as your oven will go, and place the pizza on the bottom of the oven (not bottom rack, bottom of oven) for about 4 minutes, then move to the middle of the oven for 5 or 6 more minutes, until cheese is melted, bottom a little charred. Let cool a couple of minutes, 3rd degree burns from molten cheese leave scars.

Made this recipe today and it was great. Very nice texture to the dough. I like your method of putting the pizza on the bottom I used a pizza stone on the bottom rack and then after the crust was cooked put the pizza on the top rack to cook the cheese. It seemed to work out well. Thanks for all the videos.

A while ago I've had from a pizzeria and I've noticed that there was an extremely thin and crusty dough, like 1/10 of an Inch with a really airy, semihollow, amazingly crunchy crust and that's what I want to achieve. Can you give any tip on how to get it more like this?

Hey Chef John - I've been reading/watching your blog for a while now and love it. This is my first post. I just made the dough and did a breakfast pizza with it. Came out delish. 2 Questions - my dough started shrinking up and didn't stay as large as I had rolled it out. Do you have any tips to keep it rolled out? Also, got a large air bubble from cooking - any tips for minimizing air bubbles? Thanks.

Hi Chef John, I love your cooking videos and they turn out amazing when I give them a try. I wanted to ask you a question regarding this recipe though and I'd really appreciate it if you could take the time out to answer my doubt. Why is it that here you want us to let the dough rest for 18 hours, but a lot of other people suggest only 2-4 hours? Won't resting the dough for 18 hours overgrow the dough? Thanks a lot, and again love your recipes, keep cooking, and as alway, ENJOY! :)

Just made this..really good even though I got nowhere near the 3 cups of flour in without adding more water. 5 on floor and about 8-10 in the middle for perfect crust for my oven. It was so good, I am making the remaining 2 pizza crust and eating them tonight too...4 8" za's for a 145 lbs. guy equals it must me good.

This seems like a wonderful recipe and I am going to try it pronto.. but I wanted to know if I can leave the oven light off. this is because I live in a place where there are frequent power fluctuations and outages. But the weather is really warm.. tropical. So maybe I don't need the light.

Complete success! This recipe is fantastic even though I intended to put my little balls of dough in the fridge, and forgot and left them sitting out for another 24 hrs. Combined this with the pizza sauce recipe with the hidden little fishes. Tried to contain myself and not oversauce or overcheese. Did, however, use greasy pepperoni, 'cause there's no accounting for the taste of teenagers!

You may recall I asked about the sheet pan vs. pizza stone in another posting. I have to admit I had my doubts but I've tried the sheet pan for baking the pizza and produces an orders of magnitude better product than the stone.

You've won a convert. My pizza stones are going out into the garden. . .

BTW, I've made your dough recipe with one modification: instead of whole wheat flour, I use masa harina.

I made your dough and grilled it along with your sauce. It is unbelievable on the grill as we always do it that way...crunchy but soft in the middle. Just place ingred. backwards. Unbelievable flavor! There is no end to pizza...feta, spinach, pesto, pepperoni, onions, peppers, just go light on ingredients. Amaaaaziing!!! Leave it to Chef John! Thanks

That means they are poorly made pans! Get a real professional half sheet pam from a restaurant supply store or online. Doesn't matter where in oven you bake. It's the direct contact that makes the crisp crust.

I just checked the dough (it's about 4 hours in the oven - with the light on), there is no yeast(y) smell. So I'm wondering if the yeast package was too old (I bought it - a few weeks ago - bottled yeast). Or perhaps the water was too hot (my method of heat testing was to put my finger in it and it was warm but not too hot). In any case, I'll go ahead and make my pizza and see tomorrow after 18 hours how the dough is. Your recipes have always been bang-on, so it must be a mistake I'm making somewhere undetected.

Kudos to you - this recipe worked. The gluten didn't appear to come out(while in incubation) as it did on your video, only when I took it out, it was soft, smooth and almost exactly like what was shown on the video. I guess I overreacted and was worried!

Chef John,This is an amazing dough recipe. I actually used a pizza stone and it came out crispy, chewy and probably better than any gourmet pizza I ever had. I also used your original sauce recipe (the one without the anchovies). Really delicious.

P.S. Can you please make a full sourdough video? Too hard to keep track with the sequential vids you have for it. Thanks!

I am confused. On your list of ingredients you have have 2 oz whole wheat flour and 16 oz all-purpose flour and then you are basically saying about 4 cups total. But 18 oz is not close to 4 cups. Did I miss something here?There is 16 oz in 2 cups. I want to just use all purpose flour, how much should I use??

Made this last night! It was a hit! My 3 family members and I each made a personalized pizza. The dough was ah-mazing! Never buying frozen pizzas again! Love how easy the dough was to shape. I used bread crumbs instead of cornmeal because I didn't have any at home and it worked out great! Thanks chef John!

Chef John, i've just tried this at home and it was THE BEST homemade pizza dough EVER! i would even say it`s fool proof, considering i am not that good at cooking. Thank you very much for all your videos! You are AWSOME! Best wishes from Brazil!

Hello, chef John. Awesome recipe, just made some pizza yesterday and it turned out just great. I have a question - what if I freeze the dough? Is it going to be usable after unfreezing? I freeze pie dough without a problem, but how about this one?

Hi..I love your pizza recipe, but I am not able to get the crust as crispy as I would like. I bake it in a 550 oven for 8-10 minutes and use cornmeal on the bottom of the pan. Any other suggestions...thanks

You said to cover the dough with a towel for 15 mins before baking, I am guessing a wet towel? Directly On the dough? Or over the bowl? Do I also cover the dough that I also intend to put in the fridge prior to putting it in?

Wow... The pizza was really great. Loved it. Definitely buying fresh mozzarella from now on! Makes a world of difference. The crust was perfect. Oh, and for those of you that haven't cleaned your ovens in a while.. Turning it up to 550 "might" smoke up your kitchen ;)

Hi Chef John! I'm so looking forward to trying this grand dough recipe (and sauce). My husband has been softly suggesting for years for me to try. You have given me the confidence to do!! Is the pan you are using a commercial grade pan or just a basic cookie sheet? Thanks for response.

For those of you who own and use a peel and pizza stone here is tip to slide your pie off the peel and onto the stone. Use a pinching action to lift an edge of the pie off the peel then blow a puff or two of air under the pie. Do this just before going to the oven. The pie will then glide off your peel. Works every time!

To all those who asked why you would want a no-knead dough when you have a stand mixer that does the kneading for you: The reason to use this method over a recipe that uses a traditional (i.e. an entire envelope of yeast, 2-3 hours total rise time, etc.) technique is that this method develops a lot more flavor than those recipes. The flavor development (in the form of alcohol) that you get with this method is incomparable to the relatively bland traditional bread recipes. In fact, Chef John mentions leaving the dough in the fridge after the initial 14-20 hours. I suggest you do that for 1-3 days making the total time on this recipe 1-4 days. The slow fermentation in the fridge develops flavor, and I actually feel like the dough becomes easier to work with as well. Just take it out a half hour to an hour before baking. If you have a pizza stone, preheat the oven as high as it will go about an hour before. I have made Chef John's recipe dozens of times along with the pizza sauce (hide the little fish). It is a classic in my home and it is probably the best pizza I have ever eaten.

Chef John, I am a new fan of yours. I live in the Philippines and room temperature here is 30°C (or about 86°F). My recipe is successful using your 3cups and not this 4cups(remix). I placed them in the refrigerator where it is cooler 15°C (60°F). My question is would this no knead recipe be possible at our room temperature? What's your take on this? should I try to reduce the time like 9hours? Won't the dough go stale? Thanks! Hope to hear from you.

Hello Chef John, from your new fan. I did try your no knead on our room temperature and it came out fine, after 6 hours (86 degrees F) I am afraid anything longer will make it deflate itself. So I just cooked it and the dough is very soft and fluffy and chewy. Thank you so much. YOu have answered most of my kitchen problems and because of you, my kids enjoy my cooking more! Bless your heart. :-)

I just pulled my batch of no-nead pizza dough from my oven where it has been developing for the last 22 hours. I followed the instructions using measure by volume, not weight as I don't own a kitchen scale, and the results I got are now in my kitchen trash can. Wet, sticky mess that I found to be very disappointing as Chef John is someone who I greatly admire for all the tips and help he puts forward. So, my advice to others...don't attempt this recipe unless you own a kitchen scale to measure the ingredients. ;-(

Why did you give up?! All you have to do is add more flour until you can work with it! Most people that make this recipe don't use a scale either, and it comes out fine, or they simply adjust. You never need to throw away a too wet dough since all it needs is more flour. Even with a scale dough is not an exact science, and you will always need to tweak.

Thanks for your reply and encouragement Chef John, and I haven't given up and in fact tried the recipe again. FYI, I've made pizza dough before in a bread machine and just wasn't familiar with the feel of hand made dough. Anyway, converted ounces to cups in your recipe ( 2 oz = .47 cups, 16 oz = 3.63 cups) and made another no-knead batch. In the oven with light on for 18 hours and my results were similar to the last time, but with a little flour all experience the dough came out beautiful. As its 7:30 am I haven't tried making a pizza...that will come later but I'm sure it'll be the best I've ever made. Thanks Chef John!

Gerry try to halve the quantities so you can have a feel of it if it is first time and if it fails, you dont waste as much and you can try again. I did use measuring cups and never bothered to use my kitchen scale as I find it cumbersome. You remind me of myself but I never throw stuff until I finished to the end, which means I will cook it and if it proved to be inedible, then and only then will I throw it - that is if my dogs will not show interest in it first. :-). Hope you give it another try.

Thanks Chef John for this awesome pizza recipe! I tried it out a few days ago and I can say with heart and soul: I will never buy or order pizza ever again. The whole family loves it, my friends say the pizzas look great and they bet they taste just as good. Thank you again,

My husband hated "homemade" pizza. So those family sessions of making pizza were usually done when he wasn't around. But then I started making it with your dough and sauce recipe and, once I got him to try it, he loved it! So, Thank You! P.S. Just a tip for forming the pizza: Pressing and rolling it was just too frustrating for me and tossing is well beyond my skill set. I found that holding up the ball in steering wheel fashion and turning it, letting gravity stretch it, was the most effective method for me.

Oh man. I do alot of baking. I have tried many different recipes for pizza dough. I have to say this is absolutely the best I have had in a long time. Thanks so much! BTW I am also a big fan of your no knead ciabatta bread as well! Thanks and condolences.

I am new to cooking, although I can make some pretty good but simple dishes. I bought a stone pizza maker made by Bella. I had problems with the dough sticking to everything! Could it be that I bought bad dough at Safeway? Please help! Thanks Rich.